Shakesville

Another Court Strikes Down DOMA

CNN, with the latest on a case we first discussed in June:

A federal appeals court in New York became the nation's second to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, finding that the Clinton-era law's denial of federal benefits to married same-sex couples is unconstitutional.

...The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined Thursday that the federal law violates the Constitution's equal protection clause, ruling in favor of a widow named Edith Windsor, an 83-year-old lesbian who sued the federal government for charging her more than $363,000 in estate taxes after being denied the benefit of spousal deductions.

The case centered on the money Windsor wanted back, but raised the more looming question of whether the federal government can continue to ignore a state's recognition of her marriage and financially penalize her as a result.

Emphasis mine.

For a very long time (8 years!), I have been writing that DOMA would be increasingly untenable as individual states began to recognize same-sex marriage, that the irony of the "states' rights" argument was that it would eventually be DOMA's undoing. (Ha. Good.) And now the falling of the dominoes is quickening.

Just this year:

* The US District Court for the Northern District of California rules that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal definition of marriage, is unconstitutional.

* The First US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rules that DOMA unconstitutionally denies federal benefits to married same-sex couples.

* The US District Court for Connecticut rules that Section 3 is unconstitutional.

Most of the "activist judges" who have ruled against the constitutionality of DOMA are Republican appointees. Game over.

Well, ideologically anyway. Decent people are in agreement that DOMA is indecent. All that remains is forging a new path to federal equality.

Let us hope that the Supreme Court, which will likely hear a DOMA case next year, does not stand in the way.

Daily Dose of Cute

Jack and Potter think I should get out of bed now.

Headline of the Day

Ann Romney: Mitt 'absolutely' done with politics if he loses election on Nov. 6.

Promise?

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Rape culture; sexual violence.]

"I told them I thought it would be good for someone to do a review of [the Boy Scouts' 'perversion files'] for scientific purposes. A lot of us were scientists and thought this could be very helpful. We raised it pretty regularly every year or two."—David Finkelhor, a University of New Hampshire child abuse expert who served for a decade on the Boy Scouts' advisory board and whose suggestions were diligently ignored as more children were victimized by sexual violence.

The LA Times' review of the "nearly 1,900 confidential files opened between 1970 and 1991"—the very sort of review Finkelhor recommended and the Scouts refused to do—has revealed a pattern: "Many suspected molesters engaged in what psychologists today call 'grooming behavior,' a gradual [process of normalizing inappropriate sexual contact] in which predators lavish children with attention, favors and gifts."

The sort of behavior that's frequently considered being an extra super duper awesome adult pal to children by people who don't know to identify grooming behavior.

Or people who don't care about it, because their sanctimonious, homophobic, atheist-hating organization cares more about its reputation than about protecting children from rape.

[Side note to the LA Times: Raped children don't have "relationships" with their rapists. And grooming behavior is not "seduction."]

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Redbone: "Come And Get Your Love"

Number of the Day

At least $15.3 million: The amount of money personally gained by Mitt and Ann Romney as a result of the auto bailout that Mitt Romney opposed.

It all starts with Delphi Automotive, a former General Motors subsidiary whose auto parts remain essential to GM's production lines. No bailout of GM—or Chrysler, for that matter—could have been successful without saving Delphi. So, in addition to making massive loans to automakers in 2009, the federal government sent, directly or indirectly, more than $12.9 billion to Delphi—and to the hedge funds that had gained control over it.

One of the hedge funds profiting from that bailout— $1.28 billion so far—is Elliott Management, directed by  Paul Singer...

Singer, whom Fortune magazine calls a "passionate defender of the 1%," has carved out a specialty investing in distressed firms and distressed nations, which he does by buying up their debt for pennies on the dollar and then demanding payment in full. This so-called "vulture investor" [has] built one of the largest private equity firms in the nation, and over decades he's racked up an unusually high average return on investments of 14 percent.

Other GOP presidential hopefuls chased Singer's endorsement, but Mitt chased Singer with his own checkbook, investing at least $1 million with Elliott through Ann Romney's blind trust (it could be far more, but the Romneys have declined to disclose exactly how much)...

Delphi, once the Delco unit of General Motors, was spun off into a separate company in 1999. Alone, Delphi foundered, declaring bankruptcy in 2005, after which vulture hedge funds, led by Silver Point Capital, began to buy up the company's old debt. Later, as the nation's financial crisis accelerated, Singer's Elliott bought Delphi debt, as did John Paulson & Co. John Paulson, like Singer, is a $1 million donor to Romney. Also investing was Third Point, run by Daniel Loeb, who was once an Obama supporter but who this summer hosted a $25,000-a-plate fundraiser for Romney and personally donated about $500,000 to the GOP.

As Delphi was in bankruptcy, making few payments, the bonds were junk, considered toxic by the banks holding them. The hedge funds were able to pick up the securities for a song; most of Elliott's purchases cost just 20 cents on the dollar of their face value.

By the end of June 2009, with the bailout negotiations in full swing, the hedge funds, under Singer's lead, used their bonds to buy up a controlling interest in Delphi's stock. According to SEC filings, they paid, on average, an equivalent of only 67 cents per share.

Just two years later, in November 2011, the Singer syndicate took Delphi public at $22 a share, turning an eye-popping profit of more than 3,000 percent. Singer's fund investors scored a gain of $904 million, all courtesy of the US taxpayer. But that's not all. In the year since Delphi began trading publicly, its stock has soared 45 percent. Loeb's gains so far for Third Point: $390 million. The gains for Silver Point, headed by two Goldman Sachs alums: $894 million. John Paulson's fund, which has already sold half its holdings, has a $2.6 billion gain. And Singer's funds and partners, combining what they've sold and what they hold, have $1.29 billion in profits, about forty-four times their original investment.

Yet without taking billions in taxpayer bailout funds—and slashing worker pensions—the hedge funds' investment in Delphi would not have been worth a single dollar, according to calculations by GM and the US Treasury.

There is more, much more, including how these extraordinary profits were reaped at the expense of Delphi employees, at the link.

In The News

[Content note: violence, racism, terrorism]

News You Need:

Maryland voters are leaning toward approving marriage equality next month, something that has never happened at the ballot box anywhere in the nation. Bring it, Maryland!

Out gay actor Tom Lenk will play a gay best friend (of course!) on Lifetime's Witches of East End.

Arizona's Maricopa county, home of racist douchebag County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, listed the wrong date in the Spanish version of voter registration cards. I am sure that was just a mistake.

Starting next year, Cubans going abroad will face fewer hurdles leaving the country. The Cuban government will no longer require a travel permit and a letter of invitation.

Speaking of traveling: There's a planet about the same size as Earth in the nearby Alpha Centauri system, and it's the closest planet found outside our solar system, about 4 light-years away.

This is a real thing in the world: Glenn Beck brand jeans.

Uruguay's senate passed a bill yesterday that would legalize abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. Leftist President Jose Mujica has said he will sign the bill into law.

Federal authorities arrested a 21-year-old Bangladeshi man who was planning to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with a 1,000-pound bomb.

Pee Chee Folders are still around. Who knew?!

Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. The last print edition in the United States will be the Decemeber 31st issue. Wow, what a surprise.

Hey, kids, don't fuck and drive!

Top Five

Here is your topic: Top Five Favorite Animated Characters. Go!

Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.

Bully for You

[Content Note: Bullying; violence; self-harm.]

image of Mitt Romney looking mean to which I have added text reading 'Don't Question Me'

Mitt Romney is a bully.

He tried to bully President Obama and moderator Candy Crowley during the last debate; he successfully bullied President Obama and moderator Jim Lehrer during the first debate; he bullied other Republican candidates during the primary debates; he torched anti-bullying measures when he was a governor; he made his fortune bullying and destroying financially troubled companies; he bullied classmates as a kid.

This morning, I read about more leaked audio of Romney, this time trying to bully business owners into telling their employees to vote for him.

And last night, I read about his son, Tagg Romney, saying he wanted to "take a swing" at President Obama.

Mitt Romney is the patriarch bully of a family of bullies.

Conservatives sure like them some bullies. George W. Bush is a terrible bully. John McCain is a terrible bully. And Mitt Romney is the terriblest of them all.

The US is a bully even under the best of circumstances; when it's run by a bully, our foreign policy is a comprehensive garbage disaster. We pick fights and start wars of choice. It's not good for the world when we elect a bully. And it's not good for us.

We say we want to put a stop to the bullying that plagues schools and drives bullied children to self-harm and suicide. We say we want to put a stop to domestic violence and sexual assault. We say we want to put an end to institutional marginalizations. But then we elect bullies. We ask to lead our nation the very sorts of people who perpetrate those abuses. Unrepentant bullies.

It feels sometimes, a lot of the time, that, ideological details aside, the real divide in this country is between bullies and not-bullies. On one side: Warmongers. On the other side: Diplomats. On one side: People who say things like "Bipartisanship is another name for date rape." On the other: Bipartisanship. On one side: Obstructionism. On the other: Compromise. On one side: Fierce defense of privilege. On the other: Social justice. On one side: Marginalization. On the other: Inclusion.

These lines are not strictly drawn along party lines, nor am I suggesting that every conservative is a bully and every progressive not a bully. These are broad strokes. But they are broad strokes that define two competing visions for what the nature of this country should be. And those visions are strongly correlated with conservatism and progressivism.

Movement conservatives disguise their affinity for bullying behind words like "strength" and "leadership" and "robust defense" and "refusal to capitulate" and "Real America" and "tradition," but it's bullying. All of it. It's a vision of a country that rewards aggression and force and cheating and privilege and noogies.

We can be better than that. We can be a place where cooperation is valued more than might, where kindness is valued more than wealth. We can be a place where rights are not treated like a zero-sum game. We can be a place where those who have a lot maybe have a little less, so that everyone has something. There's so much capacity for goodness in this nation, if only we'd all stop trying to fucking win.

It's the fear of losing, the fear of weakness, that creates this love of bullies. Bullies don't lose! Bullies aren't weak! Republicans play to the basest fears of people whose lives are insecure because of conservative policy (and religious exploitation), and then, having created the terrified, desperate, angry need for a bullying savior, serves one up for election like clockwork, once every four years.

So here we sit, on the precipice of another election, biting our nails and hoping Republican efforts to bully voters don't work, waiting to see if the next four years will be spent under the stewardship of a bully who cares less about the potential of the presidency than the title, who will happily hand over the real business of running the country to whatever cadre of plutocratic bullies he'll drag along with him, while he kicks back and basks in the glow of having won.

We can be better than noogies. We can be better than Mitt Romney.

I hope.

Open Thread

Hosted by a DEVO toothbrush. It plays "Brush It" in your mouth!

Question of the Day

What is your favorite piece of art associated with your name? Song title, fictional character in film or literature, comic, poem, sculpture, painting...

Blog Note

Some of you may suddenly be seeing tiny text in comments. That's not a change we've made; our custom code to enlarge the comment text isn't working in some/all browsers for reasons out of our control. I've contacted Disqus about the problem. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Perfect

image of Mitt Romney from last night's debate, to which someone has added text reading 'Discrimination against women? I hired a woman and let her go home early to cook for her kids. I love women.'

[H/T to Shaker MMC.]

This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.

What Women Want in a President, by Matthew Dowd.

It's hard to say what's worst about this piece purporting to know the mind of the lady monolith, because all of it is so terrible. Picking out the precise worst bit is sort of like trying to pick out the grossest piece of filthy, disgusting refuse at the dump.

So much garbage, is what I'm saying.

But among the vast, stinking heaps of discarded Starbucks cups and used maxipads, this grody bit of gristle did manage to catch my eye:

Just as it is for many women in understanding what men want from them as they share roles as wives, moms and workers, the balance required as a man in this modern age — whether in a president or partner — is equally difficult and confused. One day, men will be comfortable blending Alan Alda and John Wayne into a new archetype integrating strong, kind gentle and protective in a way that has both integrity and modern chivalry.

When we as men get better at constructing that model, we'll be giving women more of what they want as leaders and as men.

Emphasis mine.

Someone who cannot envision women wanting women as leaders is comprehensively unqualified to be writing about what women want.

Why Felix Baumgartner Is Great

For all of you (Deeky! Kevin Wolf!) who were unimpressed by Felix Baumgartner's SPACE JUMP!, Flula helpfully explains Why Felix Baumgarter Is Great.

Flula, a young white German man, is onscreen, standing beside a stream and wearing an Oscar Wilde t-shirt, red fanny-pack, and grey jeans. He says (with quick-edits throughout):

These are my reasons why Felix Baumgartner is great: Felix Baumgartner is amazing! Have you seen this person? He's like in a tiny little balloon, and then the balloon is going up for like hours and hours; he had been training for like five years; he like the boy in Rambo, you know, or Rocky, or what is it? The Sylvester Stallone and punching! What is this? This is what he have do!

He like drinking 800 Red Bulls, because they are sponsoring. [mimes pounding Red Bulls] He wear astronaut suit, like Neily Armstrong, and then PFFFTZZZT! He just falling, right? TWENTY-FOUR MILES! WHAT?! Floatsy floatsy, yeah? [mimes floating] This is a new thing, yeah? This is like, you know, Teabowing [mimes Tim Tebow move; text onscreen #Tebowing] and what is the other thing? Oh, planksing? [mimes planking; text onscreen #Planksing] Planksing or what. We have new photo moving with Baumgartnering. Ready? [jumps in air and poses for snapshots; text onscreen: #Baumgartering; he lands and his fanny pack hits his prunes] Ouch.

[rapping] Felix Baumgartner in an astronaut suit! Felix Baumgartner in an astronaut suit! Felishhhuzzz [speaking again] It's hard to say Felix Baumgartner. I am German and it is hard to say. He must change his name to, like, Tom Spaceman. It's not like a good rap name, but he is still a dope dude!

If you are in an alley place, who are you scared of? Lil Wayne or Felix Baumgartner, right? Lil Wayne is like, [small voice] "I have more tattoos! I'm gonna punch you with my tears, that are tattooed." [points to face where Lil Wayne sports teardrop tattoos] Baumgartner's like, [booming voice] "I'll just drop 24 miles in a suit. Waaahhhhh!" [regular voice] Who you scaring of? [beat boxing] Baum Baum chickee Baumgartner! [booming voice] "Waaahhhhh!" [regular voice] And I grab Lil Wayne like a baby [mimes scooping up a baby in his arms], we run down the street away [mimes running while holding a baby] because Felix is tough boy. You don't f— You know!

[rapping] Felix Baumgartner in an astronaut suit! Dropped twenty-four miles with a parachute! [mimes jump and parachute opening like a bomb going off]

So, in concluding: Felix Baumgartner is great!

Watch out, Felix! I am coming, too! I'm going to jump really high as well, like, from space! So I'm training! [jumps on trampoline] Let's go! [jumps higher] Ten centimeter—right! Twenty centimeter—right! Thirty centimeter—OH SCHEISSE! [flies off trampoline]

Text Onscreen: Subscribe it to Flula.

In background, Flula says: He like fool science! You know, science is like, [professorial voice] "You cannot do it. We're sorry. It's science. Those are rules." And Felix is like, [rude gesture; blows raspberry] "I'm going to do it because I am smart and I have astronaut and watch out skies!"

Now you know.

Wednesday Blogaround

This blogaround brought to you by binders.

Recommended Reading:

Annalee: Scientists Discover a Planet in Alpha Centauri, the Star System Nearest Earth

T.F.: 'Cultural Scavengers': Violentacrez, Reddit, and Trolls [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of rape culture, sexual assault, and bullying.]

Alan: Marriage Vote: Family's Love Matters More Than Its Form

Ruxandra: Voices on Voting: An Immigrant's Perspective

Oliver: Conservative Media Attack Debate Question on Pay Equity as "Feminazi" Lie, Call Questioner "Tool"

Emma: Mitt Romney's Binders Full of Women Just Don't Stack Up

Jessica: "And then God bestowed upon Adam binders full of women."

Julianne: Romney Cares About All Immigrant Children, But Only After They Join the Military

Lee: Group Running Racist 'Obama Phone' Ad Has Close Ties to Congressional Republicans

Adam: Newlywed Anne Hathaway Will Donate Money from Wedding Photos to Marriage Campaign

Leave your links and recommendations in comments...

Daily Dose of Cute

Did you know that October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month? You probably did since I just mentioned it yesterday! So, in honor of Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, here are videos about our rescuing Dudley and Zelda, with additional pictures! As always, please feel welcome and invited to share stories and pictures of your rescued pets in comments.

Dudley

[music: Angelo Badalamenti's "Love Theme" from the score for Cousins]

Text Onscreen: The first time we ever saw our greyhound, Dudley, he had just been rescued from life at the track. And he looked sad. [image of Dudley looking very scared and sad, with his tail between his legs] We brought him home, and he looked pretty scared. At first. [video of Dudley lying on a plaid dog bed, looking up at me dubiously, from his first day with us] But all he needed, to be the confident and happy dog he had never been allowed to be, was love.

Series of video clips: Dudley chewing on a toy then looking up at me shyly; hopping up when Iain enters a room, then stretching and wagging his tail; bumping the camera with his nose; walking up the stairs and down the stairs; swimming in Lake Michigan; trotting at the dog park with his tongue lolling out; playing with Iain at the dog park; letting loose and having a powerful, graceful run at the dog park; spinning excitedly in the living room; wrestling with a blanket; playbowing at me; having a breathtaking run at the dog park that makes witnesses cheer as he runs past them; begging for a treat at home; playing with other dogs at the dog park; more running, with a big grin and his tongue hanging out.

Still pix of Dudz looking cute while chillaxing at home. Text Onscreen: Adopt a retired racer. www.ngap.org

Dudley just off the track, scared and timid, and Dudley months after coming to stay with us, bright and confident

This is the difference that rescue makes.

Zelda

[music: The Turtles' "Happy Together"]

Text Onscreen: We adopted Zelda from the Humane Society on the 16th of July, 2011. We have been Happy Together ever since.

Series of video clips: Zelda coming home in the car; wagging her tail before hopping on the couch; lying on the floor with her back legs out behind her, chewing on a toy, then peeking over her shoulder at me and wagging her tail and grinning; sitting and looking at me with a grin, then running toward me when I back up; greeting me SO HAPPILY at the front door with a wigglebutt dance and joy-spins; hanging out with Dudz on the couch; playing tug-o-war with Dudz; springing out the back door into the garden with Dudz; running around at the dog park; pulling a toy out of the toy box and taking it over to lie beside Dudz on a dog bed; running with Dudz out of my office and down the hall where she jumps on the furniture playfully and joy-spins; chillaxing outdoors; retrieving a ball in the garden; playing with Dudz in the snow; trying to keep up with Dudz at the dog park; running toward me in the garden; grinning at me and joy-spinning.

Still pix of Zelly napping with Iain and hanging out with Dudz and me. Text Onscreen: Opt to Adopt.

image of me with Dudley and Zelda on the beach

Me with my rescued pups, who rescued me right back, at the Indiana Dunes Oct. 2012.

In The News

[Content note: racism, murder, rape, misogyny]

News and Stuff:

George Zimmerman will go on trial June 10 for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Atlas Shrugged: Part II: The Squeakquel opened to lukewarm results, pulling in a mere $1.6 million and placing at #10 for the weekend. Whoops.

This is distressing: An 8% rise in new HIV infections in 2011 in Australia has been attributed to gay men having unsafe sex.

Advertising spending in the presidential campaign has now topped $800 million and is on pace to reach or come close to $1 billion. Democracy!

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the 70th annual Golden Globes in January.

Lance Armstrong stepped down as chairman of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity and Nike cancelled their endorsement deal with him. Because steroids or something, I guess.

Pop musician Mika offers advice for people about deciding to come out.

Remember Roger Rivard and his "Some girls rape easy" comment? Yeah, turns out he's even more horrible than you imagined.

General Motors said it will start production next year of the Cadillac ELR, a luxury version of its electric vehicle.

Dinesh D'Sousa's mistress says gay feminists and birth control are destroying marriage and families in America. Of course.

Here are five great overlooked lesbian books from 2012.

Be a mind-sticker with Tab Cola. Drink Tab, get laid!

Bi-Monthly Reminder & Thank-You

This is, for those who have requested it, your bi-monthly reminder* to donate to Shakesville and/or to make sure to renew subscriptions that have lapsed.

It is also an important fundraiser to keep Shakesville going.

Running this strictly-moderated and independent space on donations rather than corporate advertising means that my ability to keep it going depends on your support.

You can donate once by clicking the "Make a Donation" button in the righthand sidebar, or set up a monthly subscription using the "Subscribe" button just below it, which has a dropdown menu of subscription options—or visit the Donation page, for even more options.

If you value the content and/or community in this space, can afford it, and want to see Shakesville continue to be managed** as a safe space, please consider setting up a subscription or making a one-time contribution.

If you have recently appreciated getting distilled news about the election, reproductive rights, and other news items; participating in open threads during the debates; the Fatsronauts 101 series; being able to discuss aspects of the rape culture in a space interested in dismantling that culture; finding out where to direct your teaspoon in support of social justice or in opposition to inequality; getting election news about candidates who are discussed on the basis on their policies alone, I hope you will, if you are able, contribute to support this space and make sure it continues to flourish.

I hope you will also consider the value of whatever else you appreciate at Shakesville, whether it's the moderation, video transcripts, Film Corner, the community in Open Threads, the blogarounds, Butch Pornstache, the Daily Dose of Cute, your blogmistress' penchant for inventing new words, or anything else you enjoy.

Let me reiterate, once again, that I don't want anyone to feel obliged to contribute financially, especially if money is tight. Aside from valuing feminist work, the other goal of fundraising is so Iain and I don't have to struggle on behalf of the blog, and I don't want anyone else to struggle themselves in exchange. There is a big enough readership that neither should have to happen.

I also want say thank you, so very much, to each of you who donates or has donated, whether monthly or as a one-off. I am profoundly grateful—and I don't take a single cent for granted. I've not the words to express the depth of my appreciation, besides these: This community couldn't exist without that support, truly. Thank you.

My boundless appreciation as well to everyone who contributes to the space in other ways: Thank you to our regular contributors, our moderators, our guest contributors, to anyone who has provided a transcription, to those who have linked to, quoted, Tweeted about, and otherwise supportively recommended this blog, and/or to the people who have taken the time to send me the occasional note of support and encouragement. This community couldn't exist without you, either.

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* I know there are people who resent these reminders, but there are also people who appreciate them, so I've now taken to doing them every other month, in the hopes that will make a good compromise.

** Managing Shakesville as a safe space requires, in addition to the time of our volunteer mods, my full-time commitment, and my salary is drawn exclusively from donations. I do not raise funds by corporate or content-generated advertising, as past attempts have resulted in ads served that violated the safe space, and I do not raise funds by required subscription, i.e. locking content behind a pay wall, as I want Shakesville to be accessible as possible irrespective of one's financial situation.

I cannot afford to do this full-time for free, but, even if I could, fundraising is also one of the most feminist acts I do here. I ask to be paid for my work because progressive feminist advocacy has value.

[Please Note: I am not seeking suggestions on how to raise revenue; I am asking for donations in exchange for the work of providing valued content in as safe and accessible a space as possible.]

An Observation

I keep watching that video of the Libya exchange in the debate. It was real drama: At first, it almost appears that the President says, "Please proceed, Governor," because Romney's really caught him out, but then OMG it becomes apparent he was actually giving Romney an out before he made a total jackass of himself and/or an invitation to plow forward making a total jackass of himself, as Candy Crowley BOOM drops the hammer. "He did, in fact, sir. He did use the word. He did call it an act of terror."

It was exciting watching it happen live. I felt like Obama just got Colonel Jessup to admit he ordered the Code Red!

I love it. And also? I realize it's terribly wrong that it's remarkable to have such a rare moment of naked honesty, even at the expense of embarrassing a candidate, during a presidential debate.

Sometimes candidates could stand to be embarrassed, when they behave in contemptible ways.